© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

In Denver, President Obama Rallies His Base

Kirk Siegler
/
KUNC

In the midst of a 48 hour tour through crucial swing states, President Obama brought his campaign back to Denver Wednesday where he urged supporters at City Park to cast their ballots early and knock on doors on his behalf. 

"If you give me that vote Colorado, you’ll have a president who hears your voice, a president who fights for your families," Mr. Obama said to an estimated crowd of 16,000.

On his eleventh campaign trip to Colorado this year alone, the President sounded hoarse at times, but remained upbeat, joking he is on a round-the-clock tour and drinking a lot of coffee. 

He was also full of quips, calling Mitt Romney’s five point plan, "a one point plan" that favors the rich, containing the same policies he said led to the financial crisis. 

The President also took a few jabs at Romney on social issues.

"You can choose to turn back the clock 50 years for women, immigrants and gays, or in this election you can stand up for that basic principal that we are all created equal," Mr. Obama said.  

Still, it’s not clear how many undecided or independent voters Mr. Obama won over speaking in heavily Democratic northeast Denver.  Many pundits believe one of his biggest obstacles is an enthusiasm gap among younger voters and Hispanics who were key in his winning Colorado in 2008. 

Supporter Sarah Franklin, who works as a nurse in nearby Aurora, said the President still has work to do to win over some Coloradans in a state where unemployment still remains stubbornly high.

"I think that he needs to convince them that jobs are going to get better, it’s mainly middle class out there at least where I live in Aurora," Franklin said. "And also that wages need to keep up with the cost of living."

The president's latest Colorado visit comes on the heels of a large rally staged by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan at Red Rocks Amphitheater Tuesday night. 

At their own events and in campaign emails coinciding with Wednesday's rally, Colorado Republicans argued Mr. Obama has had four years to turn the economy around and cut the deficit.

Kirk Siegler reports for NPR, based out of NPR West in California.
Related Content